Coffee Vs Cups

This came to me as an Whatsapp forward but had a simple message to ponder upon for a minute.
Read on to get the message, which has always been there, to be considered in our daily lives.


Once a group of students highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Suddenly their conversation turned into complaints about stress in Work and Life.

The Professor offered the students coffee and went to the kitchen, returning with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups : Plastic/Glass/Crystal - Some were plain looking, some were expensive, some exquisite.

The Professor told them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in their hand, the professor said : "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress."

"Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups...and then you began eyeing each other's cups."

"Life is the Coffee. The jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define us, nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee that life has provided us."

Enjoy your coffee !!

"The Happiest persons dont have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.."

Buddha Explains Peace Of Mind Example

One day when Buddha and his followers were passing a lake, Buddha told one of his disciples, "I am thirsty, do get some water from the lake". At that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy and turbid.

The Disciple thought, "How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink?". So he came back and told Buddha, "The water in there is very muddy I don't think it is fit to drink". After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake. The disciple went back, and found that the water was still muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same.

After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back. This time, the disciple found the mud has settled down, and the water was clean and clear. So, he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, "See what you did to make the water clean". You let it be, and the mud settled down in its own and you have clear water". "Your mind is like that too! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. Having 'Peace of mind' is not a strenuous job, it is an effortless process to keep your mind cool and have a great life ahead."

The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

There are some poems or proses which makes you go into a perfect rigmarole of taking notice of our own self in the most swiftest way possible. This one has something in it, which makes us feel sense to the real sense !! Have a look at it --->

“It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon...
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.

It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.” 
― Oriah Mountain Dreamer

There's never a right time to do something right

There's never a right time to do what we think is right and correct, in the truest of our own sense. Time is just a metaphor that we make use of for doing an action, which we ought to do or sometimes we dream to do. There are reasons given by us to us that when the opportune moment comes, things would fall in place and that we should wait for the Alchemist to show us the path.

I believe that most of us, for a long time of their life never awaken to their true selves and keep on treading the same path, oblivious of the fact that they could be the best of their abilities in their mind & heart. The only missing factor that shoves them behind is the zeal to take that first step of making the change or rather being the change.

Some of the most intriguing moments in our life, say for example, a life threatening tryst, a sudden surprise, a jolt would make one wonder and think of the moments which are being missed in life, which is always short and mischievious its own way. It is said that Life is all about choices but at the same time, choices need to be made at the correct moment which needs us to be out of our comfort zone and think in a content equilibrium state.

There's never a right time to do something right, but then there's never a wrong time either. Lets make the most of what is right in us to be Us, so even if, later, when we end up being right or wrong, the satisfaction of striving to be the Righteous, would always be there. If not for anything, we would always end up having the experience to make the next attempt with more chances of being right. After all, its never done, until we think and feel so !!

Our Inner Eyes

Have you ever wondered how our true inner self would be feeling the experience brought upon by our external self. Below is my attempt to understand that feel :

They see the Change of Evitable and Inevitable,
They see the Charades of Knowing and Unknowing,
They see the Kindness - Visible and Invisible,
They see the Joy of Giving and Receiving,
They see the Sorrow of Giving In and not Hoping,

They see the Courage of Standing and Unrelenting,
They see the Purity of Intention and Honesty,
They see the Horizon - Limitless and Unlimited,
They see the Meaning - Known and Unknown,
They see the Envy - Destroying and Obliterating,
They see the Pride - Controlled and Uncontrolled,

They see the Gist in the midst of Myst,
They see the Infinity - Undefined and Defined,
They see the Minds - Powerful and Powerless,
They see the Unended - Ended and Continuing,

Eyes - where questions begin for the answers,
Perception of looking from Eyes of Mind,
Or rather looking from Mind of Eyes,
Sooner or later, when we ought to be Ready,
Inner Eyes gazes the Whole Sense !!

Deep Down Under

The fastest way to achieve a goal is to passionately follow the right process and adhere to it, however, there are times when our minds goes off the tangent and we unknowingly attain a myopic vision of things around.

This poem is penned to remind myself that such situations would always be there to startle us, yet the only way to not go off-track is to keep on moving, with an unflinching hope and faith on our own selves.

When choices are over, no respite of solutions,
When things goes unplanned, planning becomes just a word,
When striving looks useless, Lingering doesn't help either,
What do we do, Deep down under !!

When Running is not in reckoning, You can barely limp,
When You can hear each moment of your breathe,
And No Likeliness comes out of probability,
What do we do, Deep down under !!

We just need to be prepared,
To Accept Things As they are,
Not to Intercept, to come out of our former self,
Make changes, And re-define our new Selves !!

Things may or never change, as a matter of fact,
Unless we stop trying, and loose the hope,
If we can somehow stay on course for long enough,
Eventually it does transform - For Good,
Ending up with a Refined You - A Better Self !!

If Only

When you feel the ground, you know the importance of sky,
When you fly the sky, do you remember the ground - If Only

When you are sad, you know the importance of smile,
When you are happy, do you remember the moments of tears - If Only

When tides are strenuous, you remember the smooth sail,
When tides are calm, do you remember the eons of hardships - If Only

If you can caress the Good, the Bad, The Best, The Worst,
All with the same equilibrium - the state of Mind - If Only

Connecting the Dots

Have you ever wondered what connects the dots. Dots that completes you, Dots that makes you even with yourself. Dots that tells you what was really important and what did we miss. Dots that showed you the way but then you were not ready to draw the lines.

We all are in this game, right from the beginning, sometimes cruising along with swift aplomb and sometimes struggling to move a cinch since everything is cluttered in our mind. It may be the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning but we all need to wait and see what lies ahead.

Sometimes a major jolt from inside or outside makes you think and wonder whether we really deserved it or was I simply the unlucky one. There would be no seemingly justifiable answer and in the end, we just make ourselves accept the fact in its entirety as the moment, days goes along.

Fact is we would never be sure how or what or for that matter, why things happen for the way they are but at the end of this sojourn, there would be a person who would have grown a hidden strength which keeps him alive for the rest of the ordeal.

Mind - An Enigma !!!

Our Mind is a 4 letter enigma that carries limitless power to guide the very reason of our existence from being meaningful to being unworthy. It has the potential to make a person understand, assess and be the best a situation would ideally demand him to Be.

On the other hand, it has the potential to make a person take a remorseful attitude towards a situation - even though in realty, it never is - and be the worst a situation would ideally never expect him to Be.
A moment, it seems to be in control and the next jiffy, its controlling us. It is kind of a paradox that carries utmost significance in making a great, average or mediocre personality of a being.

It is like a primate, swaying from tree to tree and the owner does not have any say to its movement. However, it is upto the owner to let the ape take the initiative and guide the subject to the Ultimate Path or the Owner takes responsibility to train the being and make the most of this instance of life.

It was never meant to be easy from the start but honestly we all know, if we do our best and train the Mind in such a way that we replace its action by being a Simian to being an Anchor, sooner or later, we should end up farther than we ever thought We would be.

Ponderings On the Road - Act 1

I was going to office in the morning hours and the Traffic signal became Red, albeit slowly, as always it does whenever it spots me from a distance. Mind you, it does takes its own sweet time to change the colors (Green--> Yellow--> Red) and it all depends on the speed level of my bike. All vehicles stopped at this moment along with their drivers. People start looking around - Cars, Trees, Pollution, Beautiful Face (if any), and when nothing of interest could catch their mind, they start looking themselves in mirror and lastly their own vehicle.

In front of me, an auto rickshaw and a bike were standing side by side. The biker must be having a heavy work schedule, else he would not have pounced on taking a pen and paper out of his pocket, to scribble something. And then, the pen fell to the ground. The biker tried to bend down but could not reach the level of the pen. The auto driver, with a whisker, gets out of his auto, takes the pen and hand it over to the guy. They exchanged a friendly smile and then the signal became green. Vehicles started moving forward and then both the vehicles went in their own directions.

Nothing unusual about it, right. A person handing over a pen to the other when it falls down. Even I think the same. What really made me ponder here was the split second taken by the auto driver to react for the need. It seemed and looked so obvious for him to do what he has to do. If you ask me, it was like getting up in the morning and with our eyes still closed, going to the bathroom. No part of brain is utilized for this requirement.

We all find ourselves in so many such situations but how many of us think clearly and does the best thing we can, at that moment of time. Does it make any difference. Not sure, it sure would make us feel good.